{"id":15534,"date":"2025-04-08T08:26:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/?p=15534"},"modified":"2025-04-08T08:29:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:29:01","slug":"saul-and-then-paul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/15534\/saul-and-then-paul\/","title":{"rendered":"Saul and then, Paul!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morning PJ,<\/span><\/p>\n

Guess what I started to read….Acts!\u00a0 \u00a0I love that because I feel like Jesus was preparing me for the feast he served\u00a0us\u00a0Sunday morning.\u00a0 I sat there with my heart ringing, and saying\u00a0 “wow” to Jesus because\u00a0 the feelings I have had reading Acts were amplified,\u00a0hearing what you and Jesus wrote!\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus got me ready to hear it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So this morning as I am reading in chapter 9, I had to write because it is so good!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Acts 9<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Now Saul, still breathing out threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, approached the high priest<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. and asked him for letters to the Damascus synagogues, that if he found any of the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Saul ( before he was Paul)\u00a0 was threatening to murder the disciples.\u00a0\u00a0And who did he take those threats to but the high priest.\u00a0\u00a0This is what is happening before Jesus blinds him on the road. Wow!<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. And in his journey, as he was drawing near to Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly shone around him.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, \u201cSaul! Saul!\u00a0\u00a0Why do you persecute me?\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. And he said, \u201cWho are you, sir?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And the Lord said, \u201cI am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. And he, trembling and astonished, said, \u201cLord, what do you want me to do?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And the Lord said to him, \u201cJust rise up and go into the city, and it will be told you what you must do.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. And the men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Then Saul got up from the ground.\u00a0\u00a0And though his eyes were open, he saw no one, and they, leading him by the hand, brought\u00a0him <\/em>to Damascus.<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. And he remained without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I love that Jesus gave Saul witnesses to what he heard.\u00a0\u00a0They led him by his hand.\u00a0\u00a0I wonder what the conversations between them sounded like. They were traveling with him as he went to find and bind God\u2019s people. I wonder if Jesus let it change their hearts too?\u00a0\u00a0I wonder what they said to each other on that road!<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Now, there was a certain disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, \u201cAnanias!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And he said, \u201cHere I am, Lord!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Then the Lord said to him, \u201cRise up and go to the street that is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, of Tarsus.\u00a0\u00a0Behold, he is praying.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay\u00a0his <\/em>hand on him so that he might see again.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. But Ananias answered, \u201cLord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints in Jerusalem.<\/span><\/li>\n
      5. And even here, he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon your name!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
      6. But the Lord said to him, \u201cGo!\u00a0\u00a0This man is my chosen vessel, to bear my name before nations and kings and the sons of Israel,<\/span><\/li>\n
      7. and I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I wonder if Jesus telling Ananias that Jesus was going to show him how much he would suffer for his name, helped Ananias go find Saul?<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Then Ananias departed and entered into the house, and laid his hands on him, saying, \u201cBrother Saul, the Lord who appeared to you on the road as you were coming, has sent me so that you might see again and be filled with holy Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. And immediately,\u00a0some thing <\/em>like scales fell from his eyes, and he saw again.\u00a0\u00a0Then he arose and was baptized,<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. and he took food and was strengthened.\u00a0\u00a0And Saul was with the disciples in Damascus certain days,<\/span><\/li>\n
        4. And right away, he began preaching Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Verse 17 brought tears to my eyes and made me repent for thinking Ananias might have been relieved knowing Saul was gonna get a whooping from Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Ananias called Saul \u201cbrother\u201d and told him, \u201cJesus sent me so you can see again and be filled with His spirit.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0That feels so tender to me. I want to meet Ananias one day.<\/span><\/p>\n

          And immediately Paul (I don’t want to call him Saul anymore; he has a new heart now!) was baptized and ate (and I bet rejoiced in awe) with the disciples.\u00a0 It says he was with them \u201ccertain days.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I am imagining the feelings, tears, and conversations they must have had.\u00a0\u00a0These were real brothers feeling real things together.\u00a0\u00a0Like we do when Jesus touches someone.\u00a0\u00a0I don’t think I have ever loved Acts more, PJ!<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. All who heard were amazed, and they said, \u201cIsn\u2019t this the man who made havoc of those in Jerusalem who call upon this name and who came here to bind them and take them to the chief priests?\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
          2. But Saul was all the more strengthened, and he confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that\u00a0Jesus <\/em>was the Messiah.<\/span><\/li>\n
          3. And after many days had passed, the Jews plotted among themselves to kill him,<\/span><\/li>\n
          4. but their plot was made known to Saul.\u00a0\u00a0Then they began to watch the gates closely, day and night, so that they might kill him.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            The Jews absolutely wanted to kill Paul.\u00a0\u00a0They even set up watch, trying to get him.\u00a0\u00a0It didn’t take long for that spirit to recognize God\u2019s spirit and want it gone!<\/span><\/p>\n

            As much as I hate to stop here, I need to go to work. This is so good to stop and take in!\u00a0 I agree with LeeAnn that, surely, Paul would hug your neck!\u00a0 Have a good day! I’m sure going to!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            Beth<\/span><\/p>\n

            Comments welcome:<\/span><\/p>\n

            https:\/\/x.com\/WitnessofSpirit\/status\/1909599096848970137<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Morning PJ, Guess what I started to read….Acts!\u00a0 \u00a0I love that because I feel like Jesus was preparing me for the feast he served\u00a0us\u00a0Sunday morning.\u00a0 I sat there with my heart ringing, and saying\u00a0 “wow” to Jesus because\u00a0 the feelings I have had reading Acts were amplified,\u00a0hearing what you and Jesus wrote!\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus got me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15534"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15536,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15534\/revisions\/15536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}